Tag: House Divided

What do we mean when we say “all men are created equal”? And, who gets to decide what “being equal” means?

It seemed appropriate for my final post here for the calendar year 2017 to focus-on and reaffirm the ideals that I see as central to my walk as a Christian (and indeed, for all Christians). Then ask how those ideals should (or at least can) be applied within the context of the issues of the present time.

Let’s begin with some well known quotes…

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.– Abraham Lincoln, The Gettysburg Address (November 19, 1863)

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.– The Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776)

The well known maxim “All men are created equal” is itself is a corollary of the First and Second Great Commandments as stated by Jesus…

[One asked] “Teacher, which command in God’s Law is the most important?” [To which Jesus replied] “‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from them.”

– Matthew 22:36-40 [The Message]

“All men are created equal” is the foundational principle upon which this nation is built. Putting that principle into practice is at the heart of the entire purpose of the Constitution and Laws our forefathers crafted for themselves (and us). And, “All men are created equal” is the standard by which all of our laws, regulations, court decisions, ideologies and leaders must be judged. It is the standard that lights our way in times of confusion and discord.